Utah Employers, Employment and Wages by Size, 2013

The Utah Department of Workforce Services compiles quarterly employment and wage data for non-agricultural employers in Utah. Data is maintained at the establishment level (e.g., store, plant, or other type of permanent worksite facility). Since these establishments are assigned an industry and county code, their employment and wage data can be aggregated into common industry and county groupings for analysis purposes.

Employment and wage data for Utah’s non-agricultural employers are categorized in this publication by employment size for the month of March in each of the designated years. Grouping data by this criterion provides a useful tool to analyze the characteristics of Utah employers. For example, general trends of the size of Utah employers and employment concentrations by employer size class can be observed. Wage levels for large, medium, and small firms can also be evaluated.

In this publication, data is presented for both establishments and firms. The term "establishment" is generally defined as a specific physical worksite for an employer. For most employers, this is the actual street location at which business is conducted. For others, with no permanent worksite (such as salespeople, factory representatives, or distributors) it is the location from which they conduct their business (sometimes even residences).

For an overview of this publication and a look at your county, click here.

Jobs, small companies and the most recent business cycle in central Utah

The Small Business Administration (SBA) uses different employment and revenue levels for different industries. A small business under SBA standards can have up to 500 employees. On the other hand, some laws consider companies with fewer than 50 employees to be “small.” There’s just no consensus.

This study uses the ranges established by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in its studies of employment size class. In some small counties, a firm with 50 employees may be considered a major employer and on the Wasatch Front it may indeed appear to be a small employer. However, the ranges are fixed to maintain consistency in comparisons. Employment ranges are as follows:

• Small — Fewer than 50 employees
• Medium — More than 50, but fewer than 500 employees
• Large — 500 or more employees

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Continued Drought Could End Farming Tradition

Lee Ray Sorensen once told his sons Mark and Neil that the groundwater ditch that ran alongside their hay and cattle farm would always have enough water to feed their fields. The brothers can now stick half of the length of their arms into cracks between the dried mud where that water used to be. With all of Utah’s 29 counties now declared drought disaster areas, the Sorensen brothers near Spring City in northern Sanpete County are not the only farmers who have seen this season’s hopes dry up and become dusty before their eyes.

Since October 2011, only 17.2 inches of rain has fallen on northern Sanpete County, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That is just over half of the previous water year's 32.5 inches.

While many farmers throughout the state, including Utah County farmers, have been able to fall back on water storage and reservoirs, the farmers in the Sanpete Valley have little to no water storage to draw from for their crops and livestock. The natural springs and runoff from the mountains that usually supply the region fell short this year after last winter's lessened contribution in spring snow melt. Daily Herald